I Love You 'Till the End
by Tinkerbell Faerie 2
Summary: BB Booth offers comfort when a case hits Brennan hard. UPDATED and now COMPLETE!
1. Rain

**AN: **Hi! This fic started as a quick response to **labsquint** who reviewed for Deviating From Normal. This chap isn't graphic, but it's a primer to what may come.

**Song:** "I love you 'till the end" by the Pogues

**Summary: **Booth offers comfort when a case hits Brennan hard.

* * *

_I just want to be there_

_When we're caught in the rain_

_I just want to see you laugh, not cry_

_I just want to feel you_

_When the night puts on its cloak_

_I'm lost for words, don't tell me_

_All I can say_

_I love you 'till the end_

* * *

This case had been tough; it had put Brennan on edge, which had, in turn, put Booth on edge. Booth knew the exact moment the ID had been made; this would not be just another case for her. 

The victim: Gracie Carlyle, a 14-year-old foster child who had gone missing four years ago. The foster family had thought she was a runaway, as had been her habit in prior foster homes. Yet, they had filed a missing persons report, hoping to find her. But she was not a runaway, and her bones were found by a birdwatcher, hidden in a dense thicket within Rock Creek Park.

But, to their credit, it only took Booth and Brennan three days to identify a suspect (an ex-foster brother), and obtain a confession. He had used her for his own purposes: drug running. When he no longer found her useful, he had "gotten rid of the evidence" – or so he said in his confession.

"She would have been 18 this week, Booth. She would have had an entire life ahead of her." Booth had to focus on her in order to hear what she was saying. Brennan's voice sounded far away, though she was standing mere feet from him. She was at the window, her back to him, staring out at the gathering storm that occasionally lit the night sky with flashes of lightning.

Booth rose from his position on the couch, putting aside the paperwork for the case. That could wait until later. He turned to give her his full attention. He slowly came up behind her, and turned his face to follow her gaze out the window as the rain steadily began to fall. He noticed her arms were crossed in front of her, as if trying to stave of a bone chilling cold. He placed his large, warm hands on her upper arms, lightly brushing his palms on her cool skin in an effort to warm her, though he was sure the cold was not physical.

The slight activity roused her from her distant thoughts, and Booth felt a sudden sense of loss as she moved away from him. "Bones, are you alright?" he queried, his voice laden with concern.

Brennan shrugged. She knew this was not really an answer, and would probably give rise to more questions from her partner. But at this moment, she did not quite know if she was alright.

"Bones?"

She turned her pale face toward him, allowing him to see the hurt and sadness in her eyes. She could not bear the look of what she incorrectly identified as pity. She had never been good at reading people, though she was usually pretty good about reading Booth. It was not pity that Booth was projecting, but a mixture of concern and longing.

Instead, she quickly began to gather her belongings, throwing them haphazardly into her brown leather shoulder bag. "Not tonight Booth. I can't finish this up tonight. I need to get out of here. Will you get me out of here?" she all but begged.

Booth was always good at reading her, and had reached for their coats long before she asked her question. She shot him a grateful smile as he held her raincoat out, and she shrugged into it. That smile meant the world to Booth; it meant she had not completely shut him out. It was still possible she would open up to him, tell him what she was thinking.

They approached the exterior sliding glass doors, nodding to Ray, the night guard. Booth quickly glanced at the clock on the wall behind him: 12:42. The diner would still be open, he would take her there, offer her pie, and maybe she would open up.

He was lost in thought, and did not notice that she had dropped her bag and stopped outside the Jeffersonian to lift her face to the heavens and watch the lightning again. He almost ran into her; and they resumed their prior positions: her with her arms crossed, and him, grasping her upper arms. Both were mere inches from the rain, and had stopped under the overhang of the entrance.

He felt her relax against him, and he moved his hands up her arms onto her shoulders, pressing his thumbs ever so slightly into her tense muscles. She sighed, and turned her head to her left, pressing her cheek to the back of his fingers as they lay on her shoulders. He could feel wetness against his hand, and briefly wondered if it were due to the rain, or if it were her tears.

She turned in his arms, and found his hands again resting on her upper arms as he stared at her clear blue eyes, swimming with sadness. "He threw her away. As if she was garbage. He treated her like nothing." She shook her head.

"She was not nothing. Her foster family wanted her back. They cared for her. They loved her. And if their interview was anything to go by, they loved her 'till the end." Booth drew her into a soft and comforting hug, and she knew this was not a 'guy hug', but she did not care if they were crossing a boundary. She needed him, and he knew it.

What she didn't know is if he needed her. As this thought flitted across her mind, she withdrew from his arms quickly, as if recoiling from being burnt. She took three steps back, right into the April downpour. Her raincoat was useless to her, as she had not fastened the buttons, and she was instantly soaked.

It was apparent to Booth that she had just realized something. He stepped into the rain, and reached for her, trying – without words – to convey his want to feel her. "She was not nothing," Booth repeated, not caring that he was getting drenched.

Brennan shook her head, as if to clear the painful thoughts bombarding her, and droplets of rain fell from her hair. Booth took this as rejection, and dropped his arms to his sides, his demeanor taking the familiar sense of sadness that encompassed him every time Brennan held him at arms length.

"She was me. I was her. We could have…" she trailed off, the thought too much for her to continue.

Brennan lowered her head and raised her right hand to her brow in an effort to steady her mind. Her shoulders slumped and Booth took another step toward her, his resolve regained as his need to care for her overtook his dejection.

He placed his forefinger under her chin, raising her face to his and causing her to drop her hand to meet his gaze. "You are not nothing." She blinked at him, willing her eyes to focus on him, to read the truth in his eyes. It was there; she recognized it for what it was.

He reached for her again; the sense of touch providing a way to heal. He pulled her into his embrace, offering only the truest of emotions whispered into her ear as the rain continued to beat relentlessly on and around them.

"But you are like her in a way." This stated opinion caused her to raise her face to his, a question forming on her tongue.

Booth continued his thought, whispered into the rain, as he brought her closer.

"I'm lost for words. All I can say…" he faltered as he felt her breath on his lips, and their eyes fluttered closed.

"I love you 'till the end."

* * *

**Please review. The next two chapters will include the other verses of this song.**


	2. Breath

_I just want to tell you nothing_

_You don't want to hear_

_All I want is for you to say_

_Why don't you just take me_

_Where I've never been before_

_I know you want to hear me_

_Catch my breath_

_I love you 'till the end

* * *

_

Her head was spinning. She felt numb, yet she seemed to have selective sensations. Warmth flooded her body, radiating from the inside out, though her limbs felt chilled to the bone. She could feel the softness of his lips; hesitant, almost, she thought briefly before another thought slammed full force into her brain.

She was standing in the rain and he was kissing her! Booth had crossed the boundary he had set himself. And Brennan was reacting in a way that made it quite obvious she did not object. Her palms were pressed against his chest, the coolness of his wet button-down shirt a stark contrast to the heat beneath it. She could feel his heart racing, and wondered if he could feel hers.

His kiss grew urgent as he devoured her mouth like a starving man, his arms wrapping around her trim waist, pulling her flush against his body. She responded in kind, her arms winding around his neck, her fingers running through his short hair.

Booth couldn't get close enough to her. Having been kept at arms length for the past two years, he was making up for lost time. They were chest to chest, hip to hip, and breathing in sync. He had wanted to hold her this close ever since getting a brief taste in Vegas. And now he wasn't letting go.

Neither noticed it was still raining, until Brennan shivered in his arms. The small action caused Booth to pull back, though he still held firmly to her waist. He gazed down at Brennan's upturned face, flushed pink. Shallow breaths passed through her parted lips; her eyes remained closed.

"Let's get you out of this rain, Bones," Booth's voice was sure and steady, the calm and rational that Brennan usually provided was his tonight.

Her eyelashes fluttered, opening to reveal crystal-clear blue eyes, laced with confusion. Her brow furrowed as she searched his face for an answer to the question in her eyes. Booth wasn't entirely sure she'd gotten her answer before she spoke, as her response was quiet, almost shy. "Just… just let me catch my breath."

* * *


	3. Morning Light

**AN: **Third, and final, installment of this fun story. Well, I guess I intended a more, ahem, steamy final chapter, but found I couldn't write it. Maybe it's lack of new material for motivation. Darn writer's strike. Why doesn't the AMPTP realise that the writer's deserve each and every penny they're asking for? Writing's hard work! (aaaaannnnddd SCENE!)

**Song:** "I love you 'till the end" by the Pogues ( I absolutely LOVE this song. Has anyone heard the Gerard Butler version?)

_

* * *

_

_I just want to see you_

_When you're all alone_

_I just want to catch you if I can_

_I just want to be there_

_When the morning light explodes_

_On your face it radiates_

_I can't escape_

_I love you 'till the end_

* * *

Booth awoke slowly, the morning light peeking through the curtains and illuminating the room. He was vaguely aware that he was close to toppling over the left side of the bed, as if he'd been nudged inch by inch throughout the night, but it was the tingling in his right arm that caused him to finally open his eyes and figure out why he was teetering on the edge of his bed with a numb arm.

"Bones," he breathed, completely in wonder that this woman was curled up beside him. He gently lifted her, and found a more comfortable position, noting her contented sigh when she burrowed, once again, against his side. He ran the back of his fingers along her cheekbone, and watched the rays of light dance across her peaceful face, recalling the pain that had registered there last night in the rain.

He'd never asked if she'd wanted to come over. She never said she didn't. It was the unspoken request that she not be alone that brought them to his apartment. The silence wasn't awkward, as he'd expected it to be.

Soaking wet, he'd taken her hand and led her into the bathroom, offering a clean towel, boxers, and an FBI tee-shirt – which, on her, was oversized. He'd changed quickly, and, for lack of anything better to do, was straightening the bed sheets when she emerged from the bathroom, using the towel to dry her hair. She offered him a shy smile as a thank you. To him, she'd never looked more beautiful.

There was no argument over who got what side of the bed. There was no question of what time to set the alarm. There was no discussion on how it was going to work, or what tomorrow would bring. In fact, there were hardly any words spoken between the two as they climbed into bed. Together.

Now, in the morning light, Brennan began to stir in Booth's arms. _I could easily do this every morning._ The thought surprised him enough that he almost missed Brennan's soft "Good morning." But he definitely heard her muffled complaint, "You snore like a buzz saw."

Booth let out a rich laugh. He was almost relieved. He wasn't sure what her reaction was going to be, but he certainly wasn't expecting sarcasm. "I'm sorry, Bones. But, what do you want me to do? Stop breathing?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Brennan grinned, as she raised herself onto her left elbow to look down upon Booth. "Then who would be my pillow?"

Booth rolled his eyes, "Great. Why do I get the feeling you're going to be using me as a pillow for the rest of our lives?" It took a moment before his brain registered what he'd just said.It was out before he could even think about it. His stomach twisted at the thought of him saying the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time, which could easily push her away. His breathing became shallow, and his body seemed frozen in place as he awaited her response.

Her grin was wiped from her face, replaced with the contemplative forehead crinkle that Booth usually found endearing. "For the rest of our lives?" she asked slowly, as if testing the words on her tongue.

She reached up, and began to trace her finger along his face: his eyebrow to his cheek bone, to his bottom lip. Booth found the silence deafening, and fought to find words to either retract what was said or steamroll forward to explain. He chose the latter.

"I just want to be there, when we're caught in the rain. I want to see you laugh, not cry. I want to feel you next to me every morning, every night. I want to be the one to catch you if you fall. I can't escape you, Bones."

Brennan closed the gap between them, planting a feather light kiss on his lips, and whispered, "And I'll love you 'till the end."

* * *

**Please review? Pretty pretty please, with sugar on top?**


End file.
